Friday 27 November 2009

Friday Tea (or, "Oops - I forgot")


So sorry - I was tapping away and suddenly wondered where the Friday Coffee Morning post was. Then I remembered i was down for a stint sometime round December and there I was. Oops.

I have tea -- black (Darjeeling, Assam, Lady Grey), green, chai and herbal -- and pecan twists that were on sale at Morisson's at 69p for two. Help yourself.

Mea culpa.

Still, I did about 3K today on the latest unpublishable novel -- I swear I only write for two or three readers -- and Harold's in a pickle again. Nano, of course. I know some of the others here participated. How did you do?

For those that didn't, is writing 50K in 30 days of any use? Is Nano sneered at by the professionals as a bunch of amateurs pounding out purple prose for the sake of it? Has anyone ever published a nano novel? I came close once, but they wanted all the smut removed and I never heard anything again.

14 comments:

Helen said...

Hello. (Ooh, am I first? that's never happened before!)

I started Nano, then life took over. I gt to 15,000 or so words. Which, in a month is not bad. I'm going through them now removing the spelling mistakes and it isn't as messy as first thought (still messy but not *as* bad!)

In terms of whether nano novels are publishable - some of you may know Keris (I worked with her on Trashionista). One of the novels she wrote as part of Nano a few years ago is being published.

Rowan Coleman said...

I have to say I knew nothing about Nano, except what I've learnt through you crazy racers that take part in it! I tend to think that anything that gets you to cofus the mind and write intensley is a good thing for both creativity and output.

Rachel Green said...

I do it every year and I end up with a decent first draft :)

Liane Spicer said...

I'm wayyyyy too laid back to submit myself to that sort of pressure. Have nothing but admiration for those who do it.

Jenny Beattie said...

I'd love to do Nano... but I have to be realistic about the way I write (slowly, considering everything) and recognise that it would probably be the worst thing in the world and I'd freeze up. The pattern suggests that the more writing I do, the the more I'll write per session so maybe one day.

I think that anything that makes you write is good. You can't edit no words!

Fiona Mackenzie. Writer said...

I think/hope, the more you write the better you'll get.

Nano sounds great but I couldn't commit that sort of time to it. Maybe next year.

Rowan Coleman said...

by the way I am particularly proud of my spelling of 'focus' in my comment. I'm putting down to having a cold, much more of my dyslexia is slipping through the net!

Fiona Mackenzie. Writer said...

Rowan - you wait until you do something much worse as I did when I advertised my services as a dog walker but put n instead of l.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

Sorry, I'm having to gather myself after reading Fia and Anneye's spelling mistakes. So funny.

I did nano for the first time this year and managed to finish on Thursday. I enjoyed it and used it as an incentive to write a YA/teen novel I've had lurking for a short while in my head. Now it's down I can forget about it for a while and get on with trying to make my other books submittable (is that a word?)

I do know of Anna (visit her blog) who had her Nano novel published. She finished the first 50k words in about four days this year, I couldn't believe it. I think she ended up writing 108k words in the end. Incredible.

Lane Mathias said...

That was a good Pecan Twist bargain Rachel. Don't mind if I do:-)

I have never done NaNo but I watch with awe, those who manage to complete it. Totally agree with the sentiment - the more you write, then the more you write.

Fia - I dread to think of the phone calls you might have received.

Cheryl said...

I hope to find it of some use as I plan to do it next year. I think its good for getting a first draft written in a short space of time. I doubt what I would write in that time would be great but its gets the ideas flowing.

Leigh Forbes said...

I didn't do Nano, but I've been undertaking such a heavy rewrite that it feels like a brand new first draft, so I was there with the word-count excitement. Am still going, having started in mid-October, and not expecting to finish until late March.

I'm sure anything that inspires us to get the words onto the page is a good thing. No matter that the words are all in the wrong order (they always are anyway, aren't they?) - that can be fixed later.

I'm sure the professional/disciplined amongst us can get the words down under any circumstances, but not everyone can yet (or ever will be able to), and so I'm all for Nano. More power to yer keyboard, I say.

Rachel Green said...

Rowan - I loved 'cofus'

Fia - LMAO

Debs - well done you. I have huge admiration for those that can write 10K+ per day. One nano friend finished on 500K at the end of the month. Dragon dictate, but still -- I can't think that fast let alone dictate.

everyone else -- thanks for commenting.

Anonymous said...

What? No coffee? But I need my fix.

I once likened NaNo to speed rock climbing. Probably a lot of fun but with potentially messy results! It's my firm opinion that there are very few people in the world who can produce 50K words of publishable quality material in just 30 days. Of course, coming up with a messy first draft in that time is achievable by almost everybody.

For people who follow "don't get it right, get it written", you'll probably have a great time doing NaNo. For those who edit to perfection as they go along, I suspect NaNo is a road to madness.

Rowan, actually I like cofus better. Fia, LOL! Annie, LOL! Stop it you lot, please.